International Youth Conference on Biodiversity

The International youth conference on Biodiversity was held in Aichi, Nagoya

from 23Aug to 27th Aug 2010 and was hosted by ministry of Environment,
Japan.

This event was held just before the CBD COP 10 with the intention to present
the opinion of the international youth community in front of the world leaders
when they shall meet at Nagoya this October.

One hundred youth delegates from all over the world participated actively in
the conference which included thirty participants from Japan and seventy
participants from other nations.

Recognizing the fact that the we have failed to achieve the target to
“significant reduce the current rate of biodiversity loss” by 2010, the
conference was organized with the main objective to formulate a bold youth
statement which includes Current status, Vision for 2050/ target for 2020
and youth Action to reduce the loss of biodiversity.
Apart from making the youth statement, the conference had several other
events like sharing the best practices by selected participants, making of
world biodiversity map, adopting youth action plan and excursion to
Satoyama landscape of Japan.

Ten participants were selected to present their “Best Practice” in front of all
other participants and discuss the details. Youth activists from varied fields
discussed on issues like sea turtle conservation, forest restoration, bat
monitoring program, ex-situ conservation of plants etc.

The biodiversity world map aimed at documenting the diverse problems

across the globe and constructing a map to represent the entire scenario. It
helped us to broaden our perspective on various issues and think about
possible solution to avert the worst consequences.
We visited the Satoyama landscape of Japan. Satoyama refers to the
traditional way of managing the forest and agricultural resources in an
integrated manner which ensures sustainability and biodiversity.

The proceedings of the conference concluded at University of Nagoya where

the Biodiversity Forum was organized to present the outcome of the
conference in front of huge audience (especially high school and university
students) and other top dignitaries from CBD and UNEP including the
executive secretary of UN CBD Dr Ahmed Djoghlaf. The dignitaries expressed
their deep concern on the present state of biodiversity loss and urged the
youth to make a difference. The participants presented their future action
plans in front of the audience.

The entire event was well organized due to the coordinated effort of the
young volunteers of Japan Youth Ecology League and the Ministry of
environment, Japan.

The conference has bridged all cultural and ethnic differences resulted in a
strong International youth network on Biodiversity which will hopefully
perpetuate and spread widely.